Nurdle hunts are a crucial part of efforts to address nurdle pollution around the world, and every hunt makes an impact!
How Nurdle Hunts Support Pollution Solutions
Nurdle hunts help call for change by documenting evidence of nurdle pollution, raising awareness, showing that people care and demonstrating the scale of the issue to decision makers. It’s not only the numbers of nurdles found on a nurdle hunt that help, everyone you speak to during a hunt and all the pictures, videos and testimonies from nurdle hunters are important too!
Evidence and awareness
Research and Reports
The data collected by nurdle hunters since 2013 provides an important record of nurdle pollution around the world, and can help to identify hotspots of nurdle pollution and spill incidents. This data has been used by researchers and scientists to better understand nurdle pollution, its impact, and to produce reports and scientific papers. This helps to create a scientific foundation, which can be used to call for action. Reports and case studies can also be produced using nurdle hunt data, which help to demonstrate the issue, solutions and impacts around the world.
You can find some of these resources on our information hub.
NGOs and Communities
NGOs and communities around the world use nurdle data to raise awareness, educate the public and decision makers, highlight impacts and call for change in their own regions, producing briefs and reports, hosting events and organising meetings. Nurdle hunt data can also be used to engage with the media, local representatives, politicians and industry, to demonstrate the issue and show that people want to see action.
Nurdle hunt results, images and testimonies have been presented at webinars covering wide a range of topics, which aim to share this important information and experiences with the public, NGOs, communities and policy makers.
Image Credits: Mingas Por el Mar, Planet Aware IOW, A Greener Future
Media and Raising public awareness
Raising awareness with both the public and media is important to draw attention to the issue, show that people care and amplify call for change. Nurdle hunts are used to draw attention and engage with people on the issue, while also giving those impacted the chance to share their experiences. Nurdle hunters around the world have used nurdle hunts where they are to engage with groups including the public, communities, authorities, policy makers and industry, in order to draw attention to nurdle pollution.
Nurdle hunt results are also important for sharing to a wide audience through social media and online platforms, and have been used to create resources (e.g. blogs and videos, which help to spread the word further. Media outlets such as newspapers and TV, are also important for raising awareness and calling action, while also reaching a large audience. Nurdle hunt results have been shared with news outlets around the world. Read our 'Ideas and tip to engage with policy makers' guide for tips on how you can use nurdle hunts to engage and raise awarness were you are.
Policy and Laws
Policy briefs and reports
Engaging with policy maker and sharing information is crucial for driving change. Policy briefs and reports aimed at policy makers which present the evidence, testimonials and images collected by nurdle hunters. This helps to draw attention to the issue, demonstrate and support the need for policy change. Thanks to nurdle hunters around the world, these resources can be used by NGOs and communities and tailored to focus on specific areas for maximum impact.
You can find examples of briefs and reports on our information hub.
European Union
The European Union introduced regulation in 2025, which aims to prevent pellet loss across the region. Nurdle hunts and the data collected played an important role in delivering this change. NGOs and communities were able to use the data collected by nurdle hunters to demonstrate the need for action across the EU and raise awareness of nurdle pollution. Evidence collected including numbers and locations of nurdle hunts, pollution hotspots and photos of nurdle pollution were presented by NGOs at a nurdle event in the European Parliament to support the need for regulation as well as in briefings and consultations response, meetings and presentations.
UN Global Plastics Treaty & International Maritime Organization (IMO)
The United Nations began negotiations for a ‘Global Plastics Treaty’ in 2022, presenting an important opportunity to address global plastic pollution, including nurdles. Data, testimonials and pictures submitted by nurdle hunters has been used to produce policy briefs, reports and primers for specific regions and nations, which are shared with delegates and policy makers. Results and findings from nurdle hunt data was presented by NGOs at events at the United Nations. These resources and events helped NGOs to demonstrate the global scale of the issue, the pressing need for inclusion of nurdles in the treaty text and the need for a final treaty to effectively address nurdle pollution. Negotiations are ongoing.
Evidence collected by nurdle hunters has also been used by NGOs to demonstrate to the International Maritime Organization the need for dedicated action to prevent nurdle loss at sea, and support solutions. Evidence collected including following major spills and near port areas help to show the need for action to address pellet loss during transport via sea.
Laws and court cases
Data collected by nurdle hunters and citizen science has been an important source of evidence as part of legal and court cases. For example, data has been used in court cases in Antwerp to show sensitive areas around a plastic plant were already polluted by nurdles. This evidence was used in legal challenges in effort to stop the expansion of petrochemicals sites plastic production by highlighting the existing pollution and its impacts.
In the USA, evidence of nurdle pollution collected by local communities and NGOs was used to show ongoing nurdle pollution from rail transportation, leading to agreements of preventative actions to be taken by the rail company. While in Spain ongoing legal action by NGOs is supported by evidence of nurdle pollution collected by citizen scientists.
Your nurdle hunt makes an impact
Every nurdle hunt makes a difference and contributes to the documenting and raising awareness of ongoing nurdle pollution around the world. Important progress has been made to address nurdle pollution, with nurdle hunters hard work playing an important role in achieving this. However there is still work to be done, so keep nurdle hunting, raising awareness and calling for change!
To find out more about how you can use nurdle hunts to engage policy makers where you are, use nurdle hunt data yourself and much more, check out the resources below.
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